Sweet 16: The Teams in Shanghai

The brawl of the finest Dota 2 teams in the land of China is about to commence.

The group stage for the Shanghai Major begins tomorrow, February 25 at 9:00 am (Manila Time) with Chinese juggernaut Ehome taking on Korean stalwarts MVP.Phoenix. The Main Event then begins on March 3. A whopping prize pool of $3 million (Php 142 million) is at stake, as well as the first ever Mystic Staff trophy. All the teams will definitely hold nothing as they stake their claim as the greatest of all time. Who’s Ancient will be the last one standing as the dust settles? Let’s take a quick rundown at each of the participating teams.

Group A

EHOME

Image from Frankfurt Major page

Wang “old chicken” Zhiyong

Chen “Cty” Tianyu

Ren “eLeVen” Yangwei

Zhang “LaNm” Zhicheng

Hu “KaKa” Liangzhi

One of the oldest eSports team in the business, Chinese side EHOME was established way back in 2004. While they dissolved for a while back in 2012 is definitely back and stronger than ever. Leading the pack is formidable Carry Cty and talismanic Support LaNm, with EHOME operating on home soil they are one of the favorites to win it all.

Team Secret

Image taken from gosugamers.net

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBU0HLKQvEM

Jacky “EternalEnvy” Mao

Aliwi “W33” Omar

Rasmus “Misery” Filipsen

Clement “Puppey” Ivanov

Johan “pieliedie” Astrom

A well-loved team from Talinn, Estonia to California,  Team Secret features some of the best players from North America and Europe today.A side that is usually bombarded with high expectations due to its star power, will Team Secret finally win it all in a Valve-sponsored event? One of the best drafters and captains of all time in Puppey alongside polarizing Carry EternalEnvy would like to make sure of that.

MVP.Phoenix

Image from pstatp.com

Pyo “MP” No-a

Kim “QO” Seon-yeob

Lee “Forev” Sang-don

Kim “Febby” Yong-min

Kim “DuBu” Doo-young

Korean Dota 2’s leading entity is going to be in Shanghai. They along with Malaysian-based Fnatic are the SEA region’s only representatives in China. The Koreans  had a dream run in last year’s TI before they fell to Vici Gaming. Will MP and Febby finally lead Korean Dota 2 to the top?

CDEC Gaming

Image taken from 2p.com

Sun “Agressif” Zheng

Huang “Shiki” Jiwei

Chen “Xz” Zezhi

Fu “Q” Bin

Liu “garder” Xinzhou

Formerly just the LDG youth team, CDEC surprised everyone in last year’s TI where they made it to the Grand Finals before losing out to American side Evil Geniuses. Underdogs no more, CDEC is looking to take no prisoners on this road to the top of the Shanghai Majors. Wily Captain Q and explosive Carry Agressif are going to be taking charge.

Group B

Alliance

Image taken from rezzergamers.com

Jonathan “Loda” Berg

Gustav “s4” Magnusson

Henrik “AdmiralBulldog” Ahnberg

Jerry “EGM” Lundqvist

Joaquim “Akke” Akterhall

Former TI Champions Alliance is regaining some of its former mojo after it bested Evil Geniuses in the finals of the latest Starladder Series. The Swedes once again doing what it does best with s4 and AdmiralBulldog wrecking havoc all across the map while keeping their opponents disorganized. Will they ride the lightning from their recent success and take Shanghai by storm?

Vici Gaming

Image taken from eslgaming.com

Xu “Burning” Zhilei

Xie “Super” Junhao

Daryl Koh “iceiceice” Pei Xiang

Xu “fy” Linsen

Lu “Fenrir” Chao

Perennial Chinese contenders Vici Gaming are once again parading a star-studded roster. They came close to winning a TI back in 2014 before losing to another Chinese squad in Newbee. Legendary Carry Burning and flamboyant Support Fy look to change all that and and raise the Mystic Staff for themselves on Chinese territory.

Fnatic

Image takent from gosugamers.net

Chai Yee “Mushi” Fung

Yeik Zheng “MidOne” Nai

Chong Xing “Ohaiyo” Khoo

Djardel “DJ” Mampusti

Wai Pern “Net” Lim

Malaysian-based side Fnatic looks to show the rest of the world what South East Asian Dota 2 is all about. A team known for shuffling the roles of their players at a moment’s notice, Fnatic likes to keep their oppoennts guessing. Malaysian favorite Mushi teams up with Filipino star DJ as they take on the best of the best.

Team Spirit

Image taken from gosugamers.net

Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev

Bodgan “Iceberg” Vasilenko

Vasily “AfterLife” Shishkin

Artur “Goblak” Kostenko

Andrey “ALWAYSWANNAFLY” Bondarenko

A fairly new side with an interesting storyline: the youngest core group of players in the tournament is led by one of the most seasoned Support duos in the scene. Goblak’s decision making and ALWAYSWANNAFLY’s risky playmaking will be crucial in making sure that this team makes it to the second round.

Group C

OG

Image taken from dotablast.com

Johan “BigDaddy” Sundstein

Amer “Miracle-” Barqawi

David “MoonMeander” Tan

Andreas “Cr1t” Nielsen

Tal “Fly” Aizik

Fresh from their championship run at the Frankfurt Majors where they fought back from the Lower Bracket, OG looks to reciprocate some of the winning form. They were written off against Team Secret in the Finals but they asserted convincing mastery over the European side besting the 3-1. OG will not be doing under the radar this time around, expect them to put up a solid fight for their second straight Major trophy.

LGD

Image from gosugamers.net

Liu “Sylar” Jiajun

Lu “Maybe” Yao

Bai “RoTk” Fan

Lei “MMY!” Zengrong

Liang “DDC” Faming

Yet another Chinese side that cannot be underestimated. Sylar is one of the most consistent Carries in the game and RoTk is one of the most high-profile Offlaners of all time. While Maybe is also an excellent Mid on the rise. LGD isn’t the most feared Chinese team in the tournament but they do have the potential to make it far.

Newbee

Image taken from infovn.net

Chen “Hao” Zhihao

Zhang “Mu” Pan

Xiao “Ming2lei” Lei

Wong “ChuaN” Hock

Zhang “le” Xuanhao

TI4 Champions Newbee look to prove that they belong on top of the Dota 2 world once again. Hao is back for another rodeo with Newbee after a brief stay with Vici Gaming. Joining him is long time Invictus Gaming member ChuaN. Newbee isn’t a favorite by any chance but they can take are capable giant-killers.

Team Archon

Team Archon was formerly Team FIRE (Image taken from dotablast.com)

Jio “Jeyo” Madayang

Jaron “monkeys-forever” Clinton

David “Moo” Hull

Bryant “whiteBeard” Lehwald

Brian “FLUFFNSTUFF” Lee

This North American side is definitely one of the underdogs. The kings of NA Dota 2 has always been Evil Geniuses but Filipino-Canadian Jeyo, formerly of Rave-Dota, and monkeys-forever will look to eventually take the crown of NA kings. Winning the Mystic Staff, might just be the boost that they need.

Group D

Evil Geniuses

Image from Frankfurt Major

Artour “Arteezy” Babaev

Syed “SumaiL” Hassan

Saahil “Universe” Arora

Clinton “Fear” Loomis

Peter “ppd” Dager

An American powerhouse with lofty expectation, Evil Geniuses are always in contention for a championship. With Evil Genius himself, ppd leading this talented group they are a fearsome adversary for any team. But the question remains if Arteezy and SumaiL will have the chemistry to lead their team to victory or if ego will remain an issue.

compLexity Gaming

Image taken from gosugamers.net

Rasmus “Chessie” Blomdin

Linus “Limmp” Blomdin

Kyle “swindlemelonzz” Freedman

Zakari “zfreek” Freedman

Simon “Handsken” Haag

Another American side that says Dota 2 runs in the family. compLexity Gaming booked their ticket to Shanghai by besting TI5 champion Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling’s new team Digital Chaos in the loser’s bracket Final of Shanghai’s NA Qualifiers. coL will once again have their work cut out for them as they have to beat bitter rival EG. They are also banking on their risky early aggression for a better chance at making it into the Main Event.

Virtus.Pro

Image taken from gamerassaultweekly.com

Ayrat “Silent.” Gaziev

Sergey “God” Bragin

Alexandr “DKPhobos” Kucherya

Ilya “Lil” Ilyuk

Artsiom “fng” Barshak

The lone CIS side in Group D looks to make its region proud by besting some of the best teams in NA and Europe. Silent. and God are two of the most consistent players in the professional scene and VP hopes those two will once again be at the top of their game. With main rivals Natus Vincere, nowhere to be seen in at this Major and other CIS rival Team Empire in another group, it is indeed a good chance for VP to shine.

Team Liquid

Image taken from gamesports.net

Lasse “MATUBAMAN” Urpalaine

Adrian “FATA-” Trinks

Ivan “MinD_ControL” Borislavov

Jesse “Jerax” Vainikka

Salehi “Kuroky” Takhasomi

Formerly 5Jungz before being acquired by Team Liquid to reenter the Dota 2 scene, this European squad is definitely a talented one. Though they barely missed out on playing in the Frankfurt Major, they have actually been winning games recently even beating Frankfurt Major Champions OG 3-1 in joinDota’s The Defense Season 5 Finals. Jerax and Kuroky are two extremely talented supports who can change the flow of the game from start to finish.

Who are you rooting for at Shanghai? Which team will come away with the coveted Mystic Staff? Get in on the conversation below.

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